Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy
Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy |image = |caption2 = Ranjeet Singhal's redesign of Kain for Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy. |previous = Legacy of Kain: Defiance (2003) |developer = • Ritual Entertainment • Crystal Dynamics |publisher = • Eidos Interactive |writer = • Richard Lemarchand • Jennifer Fernández |platforms = • PlayStation 2 • Xbox • Microsoft Windows |release = • N/A: canceled in 2004 |protagonist = • Kain }} Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy was a canceled Legacy of Kain game – the planned sixth title in the series, and sequel to Legacy of Kain: Defiance. It entered development at Ritual Entertainment in 2004, with consultancy from Crystal Dynamics, but production ended for unknown reasons after three to six months of work. The project was never officially announced by publisher Eidos Interactive, but its existence has been acknowledged by Crystal Dynamics' Chris Bruno and Daniel Cabuco, and by several artists formerly employed at Ritual Entertainment. Evidence of Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy's development was largely publicized by Legacy of Kain fan and community member, Divine Shadow, between 2008 and 2012, in the form of screenshots of Malek's Bastion in the Legacy of Kain: Defiance engine, and concept art of the pre-banishment Hylden. Kain was to feature as the main character in the game, much of which would take place in the Demon Realm, and would further the storyline surrounding the Hylden, the Hylden Lord, and Janos Audron. Targeted platforms included the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows. Development Little is known regarding the events the game would have entailed, although concept art by Ranjeet Singhal suggests that, similar to Legacy of Kain: Defiance, it may have involved parallel stories with the player switching between two incarnations of Kain in the fourth timeline: his younger, post-''Blood Omen 2'' self, and his elder, post-''Defiance'' embodiment.Ranjeet Singhal's portfolio 3D imagery by environment artist Jason Muck depicts screenshots of the Defiance engine, showcasing the elder Kain traversing a snowy fortress populated by animated suits of armor. A later update to his site confirmed that the locale in question was Malek's Bastion. His portfolio also features screenshots of a tech demo, set in an expansive castle-like structure. Further evidence uncovered by Divine Shadow in August 2011 suggested that several locations were linked to Malek's Bastion; including 'Malek's Bastion Base Tower', 'The Bridge', 'The Elevator', 'Malek's Bastion Boss Chamber' (related to a 'Statue Boss' in files) also present are two large puzzle locations 'The Soul Mine/Soul Machine' (possibly related to Malek's soul machinery in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain) and the 'Dragon Forge' (presumably a Reaver Forge-like puzzle with recurring images of Dragons).Legacy of Kain 6 - The entire first section of the game Thread at Eidos Forums (by Divine Shadow) A multitude of concept images by the Gaston Brothers, uncovered in 2010, depict various demons and male and female Hylden. The Hylden are markedly different from their portrayal in Blood Omen 2, most of them resembling their race's fairer forms from prior to the Binding. Some of the concepts have significant names; there are images named Hylden Warlords, Hylden King/Hylden Boss, and Demon Boss. Several images are annotated with the term "sisters", and one female Hylden image contains the comment "maybe the 3rd sister has wings". Numerous further Ritual Entertainment portfolios were unearthed and presented by Divine Shadow in July 2010.LoK: Dark Prophecy - Hylden-infused Sarafan armour renders at Nosgothic Realm (by Divine Shadow)Blood Omen 3 - Unearthed concept art for Ariel, Kain's Wolf Form, and female Razielim at Nosgothic Realm (by Divine Shadow) Imagery of various Sarafan-stylised suits of armor was discovered in David Demaret's online portfolio. Each successive suit resembles the Hylden anatomy more closely.David Demaret's portfolio Richard Gray's site displays artwork resembling Ariel and Kain's Dire Wolf form.Richard Gray's portfolio In response to fan inquiries in 2012, Daniel Cabuco revealed some of the details of that were being considered for the title, commenting that the original idea was that "It dealt more with Kain going to the Hylen realm, and kicking the ever living sh*t out of them, the Hylden Lord and Janos sic". A few questions at DCabDesign (by Liquid Yarullin/Raina Audron), post #7 (by Daniel Cabuco) On the subject of playable characters Cabuco confirmed that they were deciding whether the post-''Blood Omen 2'' Kain would be playable, a sunlight-triggered disguise, or part of another dual-protagonist story with the Elder Kain in the demon-realm assisting his unknowing younger-self in the Material Realm - even going so far as to hint that Kain may have met his Blood Omen self in battle as part of one of Moebius's traps. Various art and plot questions at DCabDesign (by Dubiel), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco) Cabuco also explained that Ritual had proposed a way to summon Raziel from the Reaver, but "That was a proposal shot down by the Crystal delegation. The basic news they brought was that Soul Reaver was Raziel's story, and it ended with Defiance. After that it was all Kain.". A few questions at DCabDesign (by Liquid Yarullin/Raina Audron), post #7 (by Daniel Cabuco) Other characters included Vorador who might similarly have been 'summoned' Various art and plot questions at DCabDesign (by Dubiel), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco) and Janos, though his role and fate were undecided. What happens to Janos after BO2? at DCabDesign (by Issa), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco) Cabuco also hinted that The Dark Prophecy would have featured a retun to the Soul Reaver era. A few questions at DCabDesign (by Divine Shadow), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco) Andez Gaston has posted at Nosgothic Realm, revealing that a script for the story had not been written at the time he created his artwork, and expressing his support for a new game in the future.LoK: Dark Prophecy - More information unearthed (Malek & Devolved/Wolf Kain & Ancient Hylden) at Nosgothic Realm (by Divine Shadow) The media discovered by fans has received coverage from online gaming sites, including Destructoid, Blue's News and ScrewAttack's Hard News (whose reporter demands "Now make it anyway, Eidos").Canceled game: Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy at Destructoid (by Jim Sterling)Ritual's Cancelled Legacy of Kain Game? at Blue's NewsHard News 07/26/10 at ScrewAttack (by DailyDestin) Plot Gameplay Notes *Ranjeet Singhal's render of the "hybrid-Kain" is accompanied by the following comment: "A redesign I did of Kain. Of all the IP's I have worked on I have never recieved as many personal emails regarding any of them as I do with Kain. Eidos has not commited to another installment of the Legacy of kain series which I consider to be a serious mistake. There's a rather large and deicated audience to this IP." Gallery Characters Recurring characters File:TDP-Character-Singhal-YoungKain.jpg|Ranjeet Singhal's redesign of Kain. File:TDP-Character-Gray-Ariel.jpg|Richard Gray's portrait of an Ariel-like character. File:TDP-Character-Gray-DireWolf.jpg|Richard Gray's portrait of a dire wolf. File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-Seer.jpg|Andez Gaston's portrait of a Seer-like Hylden. Demons File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-Demon-01.jpg|Andez Gaston's concept art of a demon. File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-Demon-02.jpg|Andez Gaston's concept art of a demon. File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-DemonBoss.jpg|Andez Gaston's concept art of a "boss demon". File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-DemonWandering.jpg|Andez Gaston's concept art of a "wandering demon". Earth elementals File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-01.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-02.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-03.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-04.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-05.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-06.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-07.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-08.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-09.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-10.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-11.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-12.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-13.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-14.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-15.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-16.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. File:TDP-Character-Sallenbach-EarthElemental-17.jpg|Jason Sallenbach's concept art of an earth elemental. Hylden File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-HyldenBoss.jpg File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-HyldenDesign-01.jpg File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-HyldenDesign-02.jpg File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-HyldenDesign-03.jpg File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-HyldenDesign-04.jpg File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-HyldenDesign-05.jpg File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-HyldenFemale.jpg File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-HyldenSisterCostumeRough-01.jpg File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-HyldenSisterCostumeRough-02.jpg File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-HyldenSisters-01.jpg File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-HyldenSisters-02.jpg File:TDP-Character-AndezGaston-HyldenWarlords.jpg Hylden armor wraiths File:TDP-Character-Demaret-HyldenArmorWraith-01.jpg|David Demaret's concept art of a Hylden armor wraith. File:TDP-Character-Demaret-HyldenArmorWraith-02.jpg|David Demaret's concept art of a Hylden armor wraith. File:TDP-Character-Demaret-HyldenArmorWraith-03.jpg|David Demaret's concept art of a Hylden armor wraith. File:TDP-Character-Demaret-HyldenArmorWraith-04.jpg|David Demaret's concept art of a Hylden armor wraith. File:TDP-Character-Demaret-HyldenArmorWraith-05.jpg|David Demaret's concept art of a Hylden armor wraith. Locations The Pillars of Nosgoth File:TDP-Location-01-01-Lemay-Pillars.jpg|An Isabelle Lemay screenshot of the ruined Pillars. File:TDP-Location-01-01-Lemay-Pillars.jpg|An Isabelle Lemay screenshot of the ruined Pillars. The Cobbled Road File:TDP-Location-02-01-Muck-CobbledRoad.jpg|A Jason Muck screenshot of the "cobbled road" area. File:TDP-Location-02-02-Muck-CobbledRoad.jpg|A Jason Muck screenshot of the "cobbled road" area. File:TDP-Location-02-03-Muck-CobbledRoad.jpg|A Jason Muck screenshot of the "cobbled road" area. Malek's Bastion File:TDP-Location-03-AndezGaston-BaseTowerOne.jpg| File:TDP-Location-04-01-AndezGaston-BridgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-04-02-AndezGaston-BridgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-04-03-AndezGaston-BridgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-04-04-AndezGaston-BridgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-04-05-AndezGaston-BridgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-04-06-Muck-Bridge.jpg| File:TDP-Location-05-01-AndezGaston-OuterBastionConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-05-02-AndezGaston-OuterBastionConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-05-03-AndezGaston-OuterBastionConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-05-04-AndezGaston-OuterBastionConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-01-Muck-InnerBastion.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-02-Muck-InnerBastion.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-03-Muck-InnerBastion.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-04-Muck-InnerBastion.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-05-Muck-InnerBastion.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-06-Muck-InnerBastion.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-07-Muck-InnerBastion.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-08-AndezGaston-InnerBastionConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-09-AndezGaston-InnerBastionConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-10-AndezGaston-InnerBastionConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-11-AndezGaston-InnerBastionConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-12-AndezGaston-InnerBastionConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-13-AndezGaston-InnerBastionConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-14-AndezGaston-InnerBastionConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-15-Hausmann-InnerBastionGeometry.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-16-Hausmann-InnerBastionGeometry.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-17-Hausmann-InnerBastionGeometry.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-18-Hausmann-InnerBastionGeometry.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-19-Hausmann-InnerBastionGeometry.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-20-Hausmann-InnerBastionGeometry.jpg| File:TDP-Location-06-21-Hausmann-InnerBastionGeometry.jpg| File:TDP-Location-07-01-Muck-WingedBeingShrine.jpg| File:TDP-Location-07-02-Muck-WingedBeingShrine.jpg| File:TDP-Location-07-03-Muck-WingedBeingShrine.jpg| File:TDP-Location-08-Muck-SkullCorridor.jpg| File:TDP-Location-09-01-AndezGaston-HallwayElevatorConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-09-02-AndezGaston-HallwayElevatorConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-09-03-AndezGaston-HallwayElevatorConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-10-01-Hausmann-SteamPipeCave.jpg| File:TDP-Location-10-02-Hausmann-SteamPipeCave.jpg| File:TDP-Location-10-03-Hausmann-SteamPipeCave.jpg| File:TDP-Location-10-04-Hausmann-SteamPipeCave.jpg| File:TDP-Location-11-01-Hausmann-HeadlessStatueChamber.jpg| File:TDP-Location-11-02-Hausmann-HeadlessStatueChamber.jpg| File:TDP-Location-11-03-Hausmann-HeadlessStatueChamber.jpg| File:TDP-Location-11-04-Hausmann-HeadlessStatueChamber.jpg| File:TDP-Location-12-Hausmann-SubterraneanCampfire.jpg| File:TDP-Location-13-01-AndezGaston-SoulMachineMineConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-13-02-AndezGaston-SoulMachineMineConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-13-03-AndezGaston-SoulMachineMineConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-13-04-AndezGaston-SoulMachineMineConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-13-05-Hausmann-SoulMachineMineGeometry.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-01-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-02-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-03-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-04-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-05-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-06-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-07-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-08-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-09-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-10-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-11-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-12-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-13-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-14-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-15-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-16-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-14-17-AndezGaston-DragonStatueReaverForgeConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-15-01-AndezGaston-SoulMachineCoreConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-15-02-AndezGaston-SoulMachineCoreConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-15-03-AndezGaston-SoulMachineCoreConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-15-04-AndezGaston-SoulMachineCoreConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-15-05-AndezGaston-SoulMachineCoreConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-15-06-AndezGaston-SoulMachineCoreConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-15-07-AndezGaston-SoulMachineCoreConcept.jpg| File:TDP-Location-16-01-Muck-RedCarpetHall.jpg| File:TDP-Location-16-02-Muck-RedCarpetHall.jpg| File:TDP-Location-17-01-Muck-BossArena.jpg| File:TDP-Location-17-02-Muck-BossArena.jpg| File:TDP-Location-17-03-Muck-BossArena.jpg| File:TDP-Location-17-04-Muck-BossArena.jpg| File:TDP-Location-17-05-Muck-BossArena.jpg| File:TDP-Location-17-06-Muck-BossArenaGeometry.jpg| File:TDP-Location-17-07-Muck-BossArenaGeometry.jpg| File:TDP-Location-17-08-Muck-BossArenaGeometry.jpg| File:TDP-Location-18-Pierce-MountainBridge.jpg| Credits *'Story:' Richard Lemarchand, Jennifer Fernández *'Base level mechanics and art direction:' Kyle Mannerberg, Daniel Cabuco *'Senior 3D artist and Lead Artist:' Stephane Gaudette *'Art:' Anderson Gaston, Andez Gaston, Aaron Hausmann, Isabelle Lemay, Jason Muck, Jason Sallenbach, Ranjeet Singhal See also *''Legacy of Kain'' *Sixth game * Legacy of Kain: Defiance * The Dark Prophecy at The Lost Worlds (by Divine Shadow and Ben Lincoln). References }} Category:Games